The present invention relates to a device for controlling a power train suitable for delivering set-point signals of torque to be applied to the wheels of a motor vehicle, and an associated method.
The invention relates more particularly to a device for controlling a power train, that can be adapted to any type of motor vehicle and that can be used to control the variations in the engine speed of said power train in order to improve the acoustics felt by the driver and the passengers of the motor vehicle.
At the present time, in order to obtain a particularly satisfactory level of driving pleasure, efforts are made to minimize as much as possible the sound nuisances generated by the power train of the motor vehicle.
To this end, the applicant has developed a device for controlling the operating point of a motor vehicle power train, disclosed in document FR-A-2 827 339. The control applied by this device is a control of the torque applied to the wheels of the motor vehicle. The torque value to be applied to the wheels of the motor vehicle is calculated directly at the level of the wheels of the motor vehicle. Such a device is fitted with a module for interpreting the wishes of the driver, called IVC module, comprising in particular a generator for generating a signal representative of a limitation of variation in the speed of the power train suitable for reducing the acoustic variations of the power train that the driver is likely to hear.
Said signal is transmitted to a power train optimization block in order to control the torque to be applied to the wheels of the vehicle, the optimization block being used to determine an operating point in an optimal operating range of the power train based on driving pleasure constraint. The signal representative of a limitation of the speed of the power train suitable for reducing the acoustically disturbing variations of the power train is determined according to the activity of the driver and the speed of the motor vehicle.
Such a device, suitable for improving the acoustics felt by the people inside the passenger compartment, has the drawback of not allowing the variations of torque demand to be applied to the wheels to be correctly taken into account, the signal being determined mainly by the speed of the motor vehicle.